Norwegian housing prices fell 0.4 percent in October, according to property market data. The decline comes as the market shows early effects of interest rate cuts by Norway's central bank.
Seasonally adjusted prices actually grew 0.6 percent during the month. Henning Lauridsen, CEO of Eiendom Norge, said the underlying trend remains strong with high turnover growth and seasonal increases in many areas.
"The housing market autumn is slightly less chilly than usual," said Sara Midtgaard, senior strategist at Nordea Markets. "We've now seen five consecutive months of seasonally adjusted growth."
Midtgaard noted that interest rate cuts are beginning to take effect, though the full impact may take up to a year to materialize. She expects stronger price development next year.
Regional differences remain stark across Norway. Chief economist Kyrre M. Knudsen of Sparebank 1 Sør-Norge highlighted four pressure areas: Stavanger, Tromsø, Bergen and Kristiansand. These cities have seen substantial price increases over time with fewer unsold homes than normal.
"In Drammen, outside Oslo, there have long been twice as many unsold homes as normal," Knudsen explained. "While homeowners in Stavanger earned about one million kroner over two years, those in Drammen barely made anything."
October saw record sales activity with 10,354 homes sold nationwide - 4.7 percent more than October last year. New listings also increased by 5.3 percent to 10,477 properties.
"We sold extremely many homes during October, setting a record for the month," said Lauridsen. "With normal November sales volume, we'll break the total annual record from 2021."
The average time to sell a home increased slightly to 48 days from 46 days in September.
Despite high turnover, the housing industry remains far from fully recovered. The new construction market has collapsed and will likely take considerable time to rebound, according to industry leaders.
Lauridsen expressed skepticism about government optimism regarding housing investments in the 2026 state budget. "It's completely unlikely this will work since yesterday's new home sales are tomorrow's housing investments, and new home sales have now flattened out at half capacity."
The housing crisis will likely affect Norway's economy, rental market and secondhand housing market for a long time, he added.
Norway's central bank cut interest rates in both June and September, bringing the key policy rate to 4 percent. While no change is expected in the upcoming rate decision, previously implemented cuts continue to provide support alongside strong wage growth and low unemployment.
Market analysts note that while it may take time before the next rate cut, the already implemented reductions still provide support to the housing market alongside other strong drivers in the economy.